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Spatially Resolved Immunometabolism to Understand Infectious Disease Progression
Roel Tans1, Shoumit Dey2, Nidhi Sharma Dey2
1Division of Imaging Mass Spectrometry, Maastricht Multimodal Molecular Imaging (M4I) Institute, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands.
Frontiers in Microbiology
|September 7, 2021
Summary
Understanding the spatial organization of molecular data in infectious diseases is key. Multi-omics imaging reveals local immune responses and metabolic changes, aiding disease understanding and therapeutic target identification.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Pathogenesis
- Molecular Imaging
Background:
- Infectious diseases cause focal inflammation with tissue-specific outcomes.
- Local microenvironments shape innate and adaptive cellular responses and molecular signatures.
- Molecular signatures influence and respond to local metabolic changes, impacting infection outcomes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore strategies for analyzing spatially resolved multi-omics data.
- To apply these strategies to understand infection pathogenesis using leishmaniasis as a model.
- To identify potential therapeutic targets through microenvironmental analysis.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing molecular imaging techniques like mass spectrometry imaging.
- Employing spatially resolved, highly multiplexed immunohistochemistry and transcriptomics.
- Developing downstream data analysis strategies for multi-omics data.
Main Results:
- Demonstrated the ability of multi-omics imaging to define microenvironmental metabolic signatures.
- Showcased the application of these techniques in a leishmaniasis disease context.
- Provided a framework for analyzing complex spatial omics data.
Conclusions:
- Spatial multi-omics analysis is crucial for understanding local immunity during infection.
- Complementary imaging techniques enable comprehensive analysis of inflammatory microenvironments.
- This approach facilitates disease pathogenesis understanding and novel therapeutic target discovery.
